The unfortunate Lusinde showtime

There is a video clip that has been making the rounds in the social media and among Tanzanians, and especially those who have a medium for viewing such clips.

The main character in the clip, which is 16 minutes long, is none other than the Member of Parliament for Mtera (CCM) in Dodoma Region, Livingstone Lusinde.

Lusinde was ‘captured’ when he was addressing a campaign rally in Arumeru East before the constituency’s by-election, which saw Chadema’s Joshua Nassari romping to victory.

The kind of obscenities that the ‘honourable’ legislator packs in his speech is such that whoever wants to view the video clip is best advised to do so without the presence of people he or she respects.

Yet the MP delivered his payload of obscenities at a well attended rally full of women and children.

The foul language can be described in the words of former second phase President Ali Hassan Mwinyi as matusi ya nguoni (obscenities).

Mwinyi used the term for the first time to describe what students from the University of Dar es Salaam had written in their placards during their protest against his administration in 1989.

It will be recalled that the incident finally led to the closure of the university by the government for one whole academic year, the longest closure in the university’s history.

If matusi ya nguoni then could lead to the closure of the university for one academic year what is the government/ruling party going to do against its own man, the MP?

The lawmaker sets off in the clip by publicly declaring that those who think they have the edge against him are mentally sick through bewitching, adding that they should simply forget it because they are no match for him since his mental problem is by birth.

The rest of what he says in the clip is nothing but an unprintable.

But, in short, the foul language he has used against Chadema leaders is such that he has ended up debasing women and children in the country.

What is perhaps very unfortunate about that video clip is that it has been made by a person who is not only an MP, but is also a member of the Central Committee of the ruling party, CCM. What should be beating many Tanzanians is that the man is still at large. No steps have so far been taken against him by his own party, let alone the government of the day.

If everybody agrees that the foul language used by the lawmaker is unacceptable, what are the powers that be waiting for?

But one thing is crystal clear - the MP has certainly brought his own party into disrepute. As already noted, one cannot print in this column what Lusinde uttered at the political rally, but there is one thing that is worth pointing out.

For instance, he made a claim about one opposition MP being abused during his short stay in prison, and we all know the deplorable state of our prisons.

Unfortunately, our successive governments have failed to ensure that our prisons live up to our ideals - to serve as reformatory centres.

That our prisons were not living up to such lofty heights is really not news because it had been said numerous times by those who had undergone through the system.

But now the situation has been made public by a person who is not only a very senior member of the ruling party, but one who is in extension an influential voice in the very government that is supposed to ensure that such beastly acts, which are a violation of human rights, do not take place in its prison system.

The MP is supposed to feel sorry if what he told the rally in Arumeru East constituency indeed came to pass. To the contrary, he speaks about the incident with gusto and glee!

Yet this is one of the country’s youthful leaders who is expected to propel the nation to new heights.